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Claudette Colvin, Pioneering Force Behind Bus Desegregation, Dies at 86

Her foundation says she died of natural causes under hospice care in Texas.

Overview

  • The Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation announced her death, which spokesperson Ashley D. Roseboro confirmed.
  • At 15, Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus on March 2, 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks' protest.
  • She was a plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the federal case that ended legally mandated bus segregation and shaped public transportation nationwide.
  • In 2021, a Montgomery Juvenile Court judge expunged her 1955 adjudication, a long-delayed correction to the historical record.
  • Officials and family issued tributes to her overlooked courage, and the foundation said memorial arrangements will be announced.